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Nick Carter
) |Row 6 title = Occupation(s) |Row 6 info = Singer-songwriter Actor Dancer Record producer Author Director |Row 7 title = Years Active |Row 7 info = 1989-present |Row 8 title = nationality |Row 8 info = American |Row 9 title = height |Row 9 info = |Row 10 title = spouse |Row 10 info = Lauren Kitt (2014) |Row 11 title = children |Row 11 info = 2 |Row 12 title = website |Row 12 info = |Row 13 title = instrument |Row 13 info = Vocals guitar drums }} Nickolas Gene Carter (born January 28, 1980) is an American singer and actor. He is best known as a member of the pop group the Backstreet Boys. As of 2015, Carter has released three solo albums, Now or Never, I'm Taking Off and All American during breaks between Backstreet Boys schedules, and a collaboration with Jordan Knight titled Nick & Knight. He has made occasional television appearances and starred in his own reality shows, House of Carters and I (Heart) Nick Carter. He gained fame in the mid 1990s and early 2000s as a teen idol. He is also the older brother of singer Aaron Carter and Leslie Carter. Early life Nickolas Gene Carter was born in Jamestown, New York, where his parents, Jane Elizabeth Schneck (née Spaulding, previously Carter) and Robert Carter (1952-2017), owned a bar called the Yankee Rebel. His mother is of Welsh, Irish, German, English, and a quarter American descent, but he's also Italian, Middle Eastern, Iberian, Scavinavian, Balkan and North and West European. Several years later, the family moved to Ruskin, Florida and managed the Garden Villa Retirement Home, where they added to the family. Carter's siblings are Bobbie Jean, (born January 12, 1982), Leslie, and twins Aaron and Angel. Carter's father has a daughter, Ginger Carter (born 1972), from a previous marriage. His parents divorced in 2003. His father married Ginger R. Elrod (born December 5, 1974) in 2004, and had a son in June 2005. Career Early years Growing up, Carter began his acting and singing career at a young age, when his mother heard him outside and enrolled him in voice lessons and dance lessons in ballet and tap at Karl and DiMarco's School of Theatre and Dance when he was 10, and by doing several various commercials, such as the Florida State Lottery and The Money Store, talent shows, the Florida State Fair, auditioning for several acting roles in the late 1980s and early 1990s and performances around Tampa Bay, FL. As a kid, he described himself as the weird kid, whose friends were the elderly, and was consistently picked on a lot until fourth grade, after his family moved to Apollo Beach, Florida, His first role was The lead in the fourth grade production of Phantom of the Opera at Miles Elementary School. His performance was so energetic that he received a standing ovation, with people crying in the audience of how wonderful the boy's voice projected. He also did an educational video called "Reach For The Book", a show called "The Klub" and performing at the Tampa Bay Buccaneers home games for two years. He also made an appearance in the 1990 Johnny Depp film Edward Scissorhands as a child playing on a Slip 'N Slide. He stated this: "It would be going too far to say I was actually in Edward Scissorhands because I was so far in the background that you can't tell it's me. It would be better to say I was on the set of the film... I was in the scene when Edward looks out of a window to the neighborhood. For a split second he sees some kids playing - one of them was me. I was sliding on a yellow piece of plastic we used to call a Slip n' Slide. They were long flat sheets with water coming out of holes and were popular with kids at the time. I had to slide on one in the background of a shot. It was great fun being on the set but it was really cold and they made us do it a lot of times”. One of his dance teachers, Sandy, placed him in his first group called "Nick and the Angels". Between 1989-1993, Carter covered a various number of popular songs by other artists, including "Breaking Up Is Hard to Do" and "Uptown Girl" and a few original songs that he would perform at events. These recordings ended up on an unofficial release called Before the Backstreet Boys 1989–1993 by Dynamic Discs, Inc released in October 2002. It is revealed that through several auditions, Nick met AJ McLean and Howie Dorough and they became friends. Sadly, he and four of his brother and sisters grew up in an unconventional, dysfunctional family. He had a rough childhood, due to his parents always fighting and screaming violently at each other. The friends that he had growing up were either dead, drug addicts or in prison and eventually, performing was Carter's biggest escape to his problems. At age 12, he put in a winning performance on the 1992 New Original Amateur Hour. At 11 years old, Carter also auditioned for Disney's The Mickey Mouse Club and the Backstreet Boys around October 1992. He was not chosen right away to be a part of the Backstreet Boys because his mother Jane wanted him to join The Mickey Mouse Club so that he could stay in school. Little did she know, her son was bullied and disliked at junior high school for having time off class for auditions and acting assignments as Nick's first aspiration was to become an actor. A week later, he was asked to join the group and was given the choice of either joining The Mickey Mouse Club with a $50,000 contract or this new music group. Nick chose to go with the group instead. The Mickey Mouse Club was cancelled a few years later. After he joined the group, he had his own personal tutor on tour. But recently got his GED. Backstreet Boys At only 13 years old, Carter, AJ McLean, Brian Littrell, Howie Dorough, and Kevin Richardson formed the pop group Backstreet Boys on April 20, 1993. Nick is the youngest member, the cute one and the heartthrob. He was the popular one amongst fans. Despite now being 39 years old, he’s still called the baby of the group. The group has recorded several albums, beginning in the mid-1990s, the latest being 2019's DNA. In March 2016, the group announced that they will begin an exclusive headlining residency at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas called Backstreet Boys: Larger Than Life. Solo career In 2002, when the Backstreet Boys expressed a strong desire to leave their management company, The Firm, Carter was the first member of the group to choose to remain with them to manage his solo career and work on a solo album. Around January of 2002 Nick started writing songs and recording on his down time when Jive asked him to do a solo album. As the group began recording their new album without him, he started working on his first solo album. In September 2002, Nick released the first single from his solo album, "Help Me" which did well on radio countdowns landing at #1 on various stations including New York City’s z100 and achieved considerable worldwide success while the other single, "I Got You" was a minor hit in Europe. On October 29, 2002, his first solo album Now Or Never was released and sold over 500,000 copies in the first week and it reached No. 17 on the Billboard 200 charts and was certified gold, both in the United States and Canada. The album made the charts in many countries as well. He also launched a worldwide tour in support of the album. He was No. 9 of People Magazine's "50 Most Beautiful People" in 2000 and was voted by readers of the teen magazine Cosmogirl magazine's "Sexiest Man in the World" in their October 2002 issue, beating out such competition as actor Brad Pitt and rival pop star Justin Timberlake for the title, launching a media-hyped "rivalry" between Timberlake and Carter, culminating in an amicable 2009 meeting off camera on the set of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon where Carter defeated Timberlake in an arm wrestling match. He was also featured on the cover of the magazine. Nick went on tour in early 2003 where he’d performed at smaller venues like clubs. Much smaller venues than what he had been used to with Backstreet Boys. This same year Nick had started work on his second solo album, but that was put on hold when the Backstreet Boys returned to the studio to record a new album in 2004. One of the tracks from the earlier recording sessions was used as the theme song to the television series House of Carters in 2006. "Let It Go" was written by Nick Carter, Matthew Gerrard, and Bridget Louise Benenate. It would be 8 years before Carter finally focused another solo album. Nick had started to work on the album in 2008, but most of the recording of his second solo album “I’m Taking Off” took place during any down time he had in between Backstreet Boys touring in 2010. “I’m Taking Off” was first released February 2, 2011 in Japan and later released in the U.S. on May 24, 2011 on iTunes only. The album was later released in other countries at different dates. It was Nick’s first solo album without the help of a major label. He co-wrote every song released except a bonus track in Japan. In Germany the album was released by Glor, Canada 305 Records and in Japan AMEX. Carter recorded a duet with pop singer Jennifer Paige called "Beautiful Lie" in 2009. In 2010, Nick Carter started recording new songs for his second solo album, working with Rami Yacoub, Carl Falk, Toby Gad, Josh Hoge, Claude Kelly, among many others. Carter's new album titled I'm Taking Off, was released on February 2, 2011 in Japan, in Germany on June 3, 2011 and in the USA via iTunes on May 24. As of June 2011, Nick's second solo album reached No. 8 in Japan, selling over 20,000 copies. In January 2014, Carter recorded a duet album with Jordan Knight from fellow boy band, New Kids on the Block. They both worked together on a duet album and called their collaboration Nick & Knight which debuted at #24 on the US Billboard 200 and #14 in Canada. The tour to support the album ran through September–November 2014. They announced their album and tour on April 30th on Good Morning America. The album which is self-titled was released September 2, 2014. Fans were able to get a taste of the album when they pre-ordered it by receiving a download of the song “Just the Two of Us”. The first single “One More Time” was released on July 15, 2014. The album features a few tracks written by Nick and Jordan. In 2015, Carter announced he would be working a third solo album for release later that year. The album was called “All American” and was released digitally on November 25 via iTunes, Amazon and Google Play. The CD release was delayed until February 2016 and released in Japan that same month. Most of the album he worked with Dan Muckala along with Natasha Bedingfield and others. This album would see Nick going back to a pop/rock sound like Now or Never. Some tracks on the album also has a sound like the 50’s and 60’s. The first single from his new album, entitled "I Will Wait" was released October 1st, 2015 on Vevo and is an acoustic ballad. The new CD, All American, was released on November 25, 2015. In support of the album, Carter toured in February and March 2016. Canadian pop/rock singer Avril Lavigne is also feature on Nick’s album. She sings with him on the song “Get Over Me”. Acting career Carter also did some acting appearing on various TV shows including the NBC show American Dreams in 2002 and ABC’s 8 Simple Rules''in 2003. In October 2004, He even starred as a High School football player Brody in the ABC Family Halloween special, ''The Hollow, opposite Kevin Zegers. The film first premiered on ABC Family during their 13 Nights of Halloween in October 2004. The film was edited for TV and younger audiences. It was originally a rated R film. The rated R film was later released on DVD. But it would be a few years before Nick did any acting again as the Backstreet Boys worked on their return to music in 2004. In 2006 Carter and his siblings starred in their own reality television show, House of Carters, which premiered on October 2, 2006 on E!. The series features all five Carter siblings reuniting to live in the same house together in Los Angeles, CA to try to reconnect as a family and get their lives together, as well as in-depth moments of their ups and downs. Their father Robert Carter and step mother Ginger also appeared on the show. The series only lasted one season and 8 episodes were aired. In 2007, Carter filmed the independent movie Kill Speed with Brandon Quinn, Andrew Keegan, Natalia Cigliuti, Greg Grunberg, and Reno Wilson, where he played a character named Foreman. The movie was originally scheduled for release in 2008, but due to issues with the release (some say with distribution) it would years before it was eventually released on DVD. In the US it’s release was in June 12, 2012. While in the UK it’s release was in 2010 along with some other countries. In the May 8, 2012, he made a guest appearance on CW’s 90210 and played himself. He’s currently trying to do more acting. Carter made his motion picture debut in 2013, appearing in the comedy This Is the End along with the rest of the Backstreet Boys. Nick has gotten into writing screenplays and filming/directing movies. The first film he directed was a movie he had written called “The Pendant” in 2010. It was a short 15-minute film and can be purchased on his official website. The only public viewing of the film was at the Royal Theater in Toronto on August 13, 2010. Fans could see the film by buying tickets through his official site. He has also directed another move in 2012 but no word when that will be released. In 2014, Carter returned to reality TV and he and his wife (then fiancée at the time), Lauren Kitt, starred in their own VH1 reality show, I Heart Nick Carter, which centered around the planning of their April 2014 wedding and premiered on September 10, 2014 on VH1. The show only had 8 episodes. Its documented Nick’s life as he prepares to get married. Which included Nick trying to set the wedding date in between Backstreet Boys touring. As well as footage of Nick working. Recording a new album with New Kids on the Block member Jordan Knight, various events such as a book signing, charity event, touring with Backstreet Boys in Europe (other members of the group also appeared on the show), his bachelor party and much more. The wedding aired in a one-hour season finale. Nick announced on Twitter that VH1 didn’t renew the show for a second season. In July 2013 Nick launched a campaign on the website Indiegogo.com, a crowd funding site to raise money for his movie “Evil Blessings”. The goal was to raise $85,000 and instead the campaign raised $156,214. Nick has said that he’ll use is own money along with the money raised to fund the movie. In return for the donations there were multiple perks depending on how much you donated. They included chats with Nick on Skype, your name in the movie credits and/or website, movie merchandise (t-shirt, poster, DVD etc.), acting roles, tickets to the premiere, tickets to BSB concerts, an online concert and much more. Nick wrote the screenplay himself for the film. Due to a few setbacks the film was delayed and then later put on hold. In July 2013 the director of the film had passed away. The film was said to start filming in June 2014, but the success of the Backstreet Boys “In a World Like This” tour delayed filming and it was pushed back to January 2015. That gave Nick some more time to rework the screenplay. In October 2014 Nick announced that this film would be put on hold due to the death of the director. Instead he’ll film a new movie called “Dead West” in January 2015. The money donated for “Evil Blessings” will be used for this film. Nick hired the production company The Asylum (company who produced Sharknado) to help. In July 2015 Nick announced that the movie was renamed to “Dead 7” to give it a more global appeal. “Dead 7” includes various members of different boy bands. At Comic-Con 2015 in San Diego, Carter revealed his plans to film a movie that he had written, and would be directing and starring in. Entitled Dead 7, the film focuses on a ragtag band of gunslinger’s operating during a post-apocalyptic zombie plague. The film also stars Carter's wife, Lauren, and his bandmates Howie D. and AJ McLean. In addition *NSYNC's Joey Fatone and Chris Kirkpatrick, O-Town's Erik-Michael Estrada, Jacob Underwood and Trevor Penick, and 98 Degrees' Jeff Timmons will also star in the movie. The film also includes Jon Secada, Gerrado (who you may remember for the song Rico Suave), Art Alexakis (Everclear), and Debra Wilson (MadTV cast member) plus many more. The movie was filmed in Butte, Montana from August 2015 and finished early September. and The movie aired on the SyFy network in April 1, 2016. ''Dancing with the Stars'' On August 26, 2015, it was revealed that Carter would be taking part in the 21st season of Dancing with the Stars which began on September 14, 2015. He was paired with professional dancer Sharna Burgess. Nick has said he wanted to go on the show to help with his dancing as he felt very insecure and never considered himself a good dancer. Every week Nick improved and had a few mishaps along the way. Second week he slipped while dancing the Jive but the next night he redeemed himself. Judges at times were very critical, but Nick took the judges’ comments and learned from them. Always showing how much he appreciated their comments. During the show he performed to two Backstreet Boys songs. “Everybody (Backstreet’s Back)” in which he performed on a night entitled most memorable year and dedicated it to the rest of the group. The year Nick had chosen as his memorable year was 1992, the year he joined Backstreet Boys. For his free style during the finale he danced to “Larger Than Life”. During week 9 of the show the other members attended the show to support Nick. While AJ (along with various members of other boy bands, who were also in Nick’s film Dead 7) had attended the show during week 5 on October 5, 2015. Carter and Burgess made the finals of the show and came in second place, behind Bindi Irwin (Steve Irwin’s daughter) and Derek Hough. He performed "I Will Wait" off his All-American album live at the finale. Power Boat Racing In 2002 Carter got into the power boat racing and started his own team Nick Carter Racing. Which won the National Championship in its first year. Nick sold his boat and purchased a bigger boat for the next year calling it El Diablo but hasn’t done any racing since 2003. Charity work Carter started a Nick Carter’s Oceans Campaign in 2001 to help raise awareness about the ocean. It was a part of the Just Within Reach foundation that was founded by fellow group member Kevin Richardson. He was announced as the new United Nations Special Ambassador for the Year of the Dolphin (YoD) on May 17, 2007, representing the United Nations Environment Programmed, the Convention on Migratory Species, and the Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society. The Year of the Dolphin campaign was aimed at raising awareness of dolphins in the wild, the threats they face to their survival and actions that could help their wild conservation. He was to record a new song and video with all proceeds going to this project, make a public service announcement and appear at local schools. Carter has stated that he has a passion for the environment and its oceans. He has worked with the United Nations Environmental Program (UNEP) and the Coral Reef Action Network (ICRAN). He also has lobbied for these causes at Capitol Hill. In 2016 Nick sold a two of his paintings on eBay where a portion of the proceeds went to the St. Jude Children’s Hospital. Nick has also auctioned various items over the years for charities. Personal life During his time in the Backstreet Boys, Carter started dating Debbie Lafave when he was 15 and she was 14 for a year and a half (1994-1996) when they were living in Ruskin, Florida. Around 1998-2000, Carter dated Willa Ford for three years. During several months from 2003 to 2004, Carter dated model and socialite Paris Hilton. In his 2013 autobiography, he wrote that Hilton wasn't a good influence for him, and he also once said in an interview how she fed his worst impulses as far as partying. In 2012, Carter's sister, Leslie Carter died from a drug overdose and it is claimed by Carter's family that before her death, Leslie was suffering with depression and became addicted to prescribed medications. She asked Nick for help to get into rehab and Nick apparently refused to help Leslie. Leslie's death caused the family to blame Nick, leading to a family outburst and Nick did not attend the funeral of his sister because of an ongoing feud with his parents. Carter met Lauren Michelle Kitt—a fitness expert/trainer YouTuber, WBFF fitness competitor and actress appearing on One Life to Live, through his sister —on October 20, 2008, at a gathering at his house in California. Like Carter, she’s had a rough past with her family as her mother was in and out of jail. On February 20, 2013 Carter along with Kitt, some friends and family members were in Florida on an island in the Keys where he proposed to his girlfriend of over 5 years, and and on April 12, 2014, they were married in Santa Barbara, California. Many guests including members of the Backstreet Boys have said it was a very emotional and beautiful wedding. The wedding was featured in In Touch Weekly Magazine's May 5, 2014, issue, and was also filmed for Carter's reality show "I Heart Nick Carter". On October 27, 2015, it was revealed by multiple sources that Nick and his wife Lauren were expecting their first child together. On November 2, the couple found out live on Dancing with the Stars that they are expecting a baby boy. The couple also revealed that they were expecting a child earlier in the year but suffered a miscarriage. On April 19, 2016 after a successful all-natural water home-birth, the two welcomed their son, Odin Reign Carter, after 30 hours of labor. On September 2018, Carter revealed that Lauren miscarried their daughter. On May 24, 2019, Carter announced they were expecting their second child in October. On October 2, 2019, their daughter, Saoirse Reign Carter, was born. On January 13, 2016, Carter was arrested in Key West, Florida, and booked on misdemeanor battery after he was denied entry to a bar due to "high levels of intoxication". Carter was accused of raping singer Melissa Schuman over 15 years prior, but the LAPD did not pursue charges due to the statute of limitations. In September 2019, Carter was granted a temporary restraining order against younger brother, Aaron, after alleging he threatened to kill his then-pregnant wife. On November 20, the judge made the decision the day after Carters' sister Angel was granted a domestic violence restraining order against her twin, which both last until November 2020. Substance abuse Carter has acknowledged ongoing struggles with drugs and alcohol abuse. He revealed that he started drinking when he was just two years old and again at nine years old. He says that he became sober after being diagnosed with cardiomyopathy and realized that he could die if he did not make major lifestyle changes. The singer credits fellow Backstreet Boys member Kevin Richardson for helping him turn his life around by giving him Norman Vincent Peale's book Why Some Positive Thinkers Get Powerful Results. After reading that book he started a healthier lifestyle, saying "Working out definitely helped my self-esteem, and it helped to kind of push it all aside. I just started replacing drinking and the parties... with healthier things like sports, video games." Carter has also appeared on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on February 19, 2009, to talk about his past with drugs and alcohol addictions. In December 2011, Carter again appeared on TV to talk about his struggle with drugs and alcohol, this time on The Dr. Phil Show’s Second Changes special. This segment led to his first book deal with Bird Street Books. In 2013, he published the memoir titled Facing the Music and Living to Talk About It. Discography ;Solo albums * Now or Never (2002) * I'm Taking Off (2011) * All American (2015) ;Collaborative albums * Nick & Knight (2014) (with Jordan Knight) Awards and nominations Filmography Category:Members